Vietnam to plant one billion trees by 2025

Vietnam confirmed the determination to plant one billion trees between 2021 and 2025 by launching today in the northern province of Phu To the traditional spring reforestation campaign.

At a ceremony held next to the Temple of Hung Kings, the founders of the nation, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that in the recently concluded year 210 million trees were planted in the country, 115 percent of the plan.

He called on workers in the sector to make more use of science and technology in reforestation and to link forests to environmental services, ecotourism and biodiversity conservation.

Vietnam closed 2021 with 42.01 percent of its area covered by forests, the highest rate in Southeast Asia. Thirty years ago that rate was only 27 percent and the aspiration is to reach 45 percent by 2030.

The national reforestation program includes the creation of a digital tree map to improve conservation efforts and the forestry industry.

This will also help identify areas in need of ecosystem restoration and those affected by saline intrusion, desertification and other consequences of environmental pollution and climate change.

Vietnam is currently the world’s fifth largest supplier of timber and its derivatives, the second in Asia and the first in Southeast Asia.